US family rushed to hospital after eating toxic mushrooms

Eleven members of an Amish family in the US, including children, have been taken to hospital after ingesting toxic mushrooms, oficials say.

Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Fire Company described the poisoning as a “mass casualty incident” in Peach Bottom Township in York County, Pennsylvania.

The fire department told local news that a member of the family had told authorities they became sick after eating wild mushrooms that one of them “found in the woods and brought home for dinner”.

The family member who reported the illnesses walked about half a mile (0.8km) to call for help as the family does not have a telephone, a spokesman for the fire department said.

Six ambulances took the patients to hospital. The Pennsylvania State Police were also called to the scene.

The US Food and Drug Administration recommends consulting with a knowledgable expert to properly identify mushrooms that are safe to eat, and says it is much safer to get mushrooms from grocery stores or professional mushroom farms.

There are about 250 varieties of poisonous wild mushrooms found across North America, according to the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.